Health-related Quality of Life of Women with Gynecological Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy in the University College Hospital, Ibadan

Aims: This study assessed the health-related quality of life of women with gynaecological cancers on chemotherapy, Identified their major concern and also assessed the relationship between quality of life with prevalent side effects as experienced by those women.

Study Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study on women with gynaecological cancer on chemotherapy.

Place and Duration of Study: Radiation Oncology Department, University College Hospital Ibadan, between June 2018 and August 2018.

Methodology: Purposive sampling technique was used to select 117 women with gynaecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Quality of Life (QoL) was measured with (Cancer patient Quality of Life Questionnaire) EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3.0. The side effects were assessed by adapting Memorial Symptoms Assessment Scale. Relationships between QoL score and side effects were analyzed using Chi-square test at 5% level of significance.

Results: The mean age of the participants is 48.8 years. Cervical cancer (69.2%) is the most prevalent gynaecological cancer as revealed in this study. In sub-dimensions of the functional status scale, the scores of cognitive and physical status were found higher while the emotional and social status score was found lowest. For Global health status, majority of the respondents rated it well (82.1%). Financial difficulty ranked the highest concern (88%). There was a statistically significant association between health-related quality of life and side effect of chemotherapy (p= 0.02). Conclusion: Gynecological cancer and its treatment cause a significant problem on the social, emotional and role aspect of QoL. Preventing and minimizing the effect of the symptoms of gynecologic cancer by prompt management of side effects of chemotherapy may positively impact on patient QoL.